Sawdust 



( 311 ) 



Saxifraga 



Green Curled. 



Li njc, : 

 Driiinheail. 



Yellow Globe. 

 Perfection. 



Late Drumhead. 



SAWDUST. 



The mamirial value of dry sawdu.M is slight, and 

 it is slow in action. It is best to reduce it to 

 ashes, when it is an excellent stimulant for many 

 vegetables, especially Potatoes and Onions upon 

 heavy ground. Mixed with urine, liquid sewage, 

 or gas liquor its value is considerably increased, 

 but it is at best a rather rank manure, and should 

 lie used with very great caution. One of the 

 best methods of employing it is to mix it with 

 night soil, and allow it to rot somewhat before 

 putting it upon the ground. 



rii,ini: i: /;. /;;<.'.. 



SAXIFKAOA COTYLEDON VYKAMIDALIS 

 (see p. 31i). 



Clean sawdust may be occasionally turned to 

 advantage as plunging material in propagating 

 pits, in place of leaf mould or Cocoanut fibre refuse, 

 although it is not so suitable for the purpose. It 

 is excellent packing material for the hollow walls 

 of fruit roums, but it should be thoroughly dried 

 before being put in, or it will turn sour and smell 

 badly. Sometimes it has been used for packing 

 round wooden beehives in the winter months, 

 instead of cork dust, and being light, dry. and 

 warm it is an efficient substitute for the latter. 



SAWS. 



For the removal of large branches saws are 

 indispensable. Tlie forester must of necessity 

 keep an assortment of sizes, varying from the large 

 cross-cut to the small hand saw which the fruit 

 tree pruner finds so handy for taking out small 



branches. These small saws have usually a plain 

 curving, instead of a D-stiaped handle as in the 

 larger sizes ; the blade is narrow, more or less 

 curving, carried to a point, and set so that the cut 

 of the blade is in the pull and not in the push, 

 as in the ordinary carpenter's saw. Makes are 

 to be had which cut both in the pull and the 

 push, the teeth being set both ways, but they 

 afe not often met with. The length of the blade 

 may vary from 8" to 1 2". 



For convenience of carrying, the pruning saw 

 should be carried in a leather sheath, fastened by 

 a belt to the operator. If a little oil be rubbed 

 over the blade and between the teeth frequent 

 sharpening will not be necessary, although after a 

 hard season's use the teeth will require to be set 

 again so as to render the running easier. Unless 

 the teeth are set back far enough to ensure a fairly 

 wide passage the blade will be sure to "pinch" 

 badly as soon as it has penetrated to any depth 

 in the branch, and a pinching saw is a heavy- 

 handicap to the pruner. 



SAXEGOTHEA. 



A hardy evergreen (trrd. Conifera). For cul- 

 tural details, see TAXUS 



Only Species : 

 conspicua, 30', Jo., hdy., 

 fruit a rather fleshy 

 solid coiie, Ivs. stiff 



and leathery. Prince 

 Albert's Yew. 

 gracilis of gardens (now 

 Podocarpus uubigena). 



Sam \\'<>rt (w fifrratula). 



SAXIFRAGA. (ROCKKOIL.) 



Description. A large genus of hardy or half-hardy 

 annual and perennial plants (prd. Saxifrage*) much 

 prized by growers of Alpines, but capable of being 

 used in many ways in the garden. For edgings a 

 considerable number are well adapted, and several 

 of the taller growing, encrusted, or Euaizoonia, 

 forms make pretty pot plants. They vary much in 

 their character, some forming moss-like tufts and 

 masses, others mounds of silvery rosettes, and 

 others large glossy leaves, as in the Bergenia 

 section ; while the well-known species umbrosa or 

 London Pride is typical of another class, known as 

 the Kobertsonia section. The Saxifrages are so 

 numerous that only a selection can be given, and it 

 ought to be observed that there is great confusion 

 in the nomenclature of the genus, and that few 

 collections, however carefully compared with the 

 best authorities, are in a position to have their 

 plants accepted as correctly named. For a small 

 collection those marked * are suitable. 



Propagation. By seeds, sown in spring or when 

 ripe, in pots or pans under glass ; by division after 

 flowering; some species by cuttings, and some, of 

 the type of sarmentosa, the Mother of Thousands, 

 by runners. Seeds from Saxifrages in large 

 collections are not to be depended upon to give 

 plants true to name. 



Soil, and Other Cultural Points. The Saxifrages 

 vary much in their requirements, and only general 

 directions can be given in the available space. 

 Those of a mossy habit, and such species as 

 Hirculus, like a moist soil, though the ordinary 

 mossy forms do not object to being fairly dry if nut 

 " burned up " in summer. The encrusted forms can 

 do with more drought, and are all the better for a 

 little lime in the soil, which should have plenty of 

 sand, grit, and small stones in it. Some of the Ber- 

 jenia types are not quite so hardy as the others, and 

 their early flowering often calls for their covering 

 with glass to protect the blooms from frost. They 



